|
Characters |
||
|
Missing Hospital,
Ethiopia |
Our Lady of
Perpetual Succour, New York |
Others |
|
Sister Mary
Joseph Praise Thomas Stone Marion Shiva ShivaMarion Matron Dr. K.
Hemlatha (Hema) Dr. Ghosh Rosina Genet Zemui (Genet’s
father) Almaz
(Ghosh’s servant) Gebrew Nurse/Staff
Probationer – Naeema – became a surgeon Ed Harris –
from sponsoring church in U.S. Tsige –
waited to take baby to hospital and he died |
Deepak
Jesudass – Chief Resident Thomas Stone Tsige – “Queen
of Sheba” restaurant Genet Hema Shiva |
Sister Anjali
– died on ship Thomas
Stone’s parents: Justifus
Stone – syphilis and alcoholism Hilda Stone George Ross –
Thomas’ guardian after parent’s illness and death |
For discussion:
NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.
- Discuss Matron’s deception
of the supporting churches regarding how their money was spent. Do you think this was justified?
- Discuss the Nurse
Probationer. She was proficient at
book knowledge, but did not have “Sound Nursing Sense.” What do you think is the balance
between book knowledge and instinct in professional success or any other
situation such as motherhood?
- Discuss the minor sub-plot
of the Nurse/Staff Probationer. How
was she able to come into her own?
Were you surprised she became first a surgeon’s assistant for Shiva
and then a surgeon (page 652)?
- Discuss the parable of the
slippers on pages 350 & 351. Ghosh
told Hema and the boys that “The slippers in the story mean that
everything you see and do and touch, every seed you sow, or don’t sow,
becomes part of your destiny” (page 350).
How does this story explain life?
- In chapter 26, when a
soldier tried to take Zemui’s motorcycle, he had an accident riding away,
caused by Marion and Genet giving him wrong directions about how to start
it. After he crashed, Marion tried
to help by removing the gun pressing into his ribs and, in the process,
shot and killed him. Was Marion
guilty of murder?
- Did you like the inclusion
of the detailed medical information along with the story? Did this add or detract from your
enjoyment of the novel?
- How do you think the early
illness and death of Thomas Stone’s mother shaped his adult life? How did his own illness and abandonment
of his father affect his life?
- In the operating room,
Thomas always advocated “words of comfort” in the care of a patient. Does his behavior regarding his sons
contradict this feeling for the individual?
- Could you understand why
Stone left his twins behind when they were born? Did he make the best decision for
them? What would have happened to
Stone, the boys, Hema and Ghosh if Stone had stayed in Ethiopia?
- Think about all of the
events that were a result of Shiva having sex with Genet. What do you think would have happened if
this initiating event had not happened?
Do you think Marion was right not to tell anyone?
- Why would Shiva betray
his brother this way?
- Discuss Marion’s reaction
to the Shiva Stone Institute for Fistula Surgery and Shiva being featured
in an article in the New York Times.
Marion thought, “Shiva had taken the first and only girl I loved…Now,
he was making headlines in my own backyard, in my newspaper. I had followed all the rules, and tried
to do the right think while he ignored all the rules, and here we were”
(page 575).
- Marion stated that he and
Shiva “…had an unfair advantage on the rest of the world” because of their
bond. Do you agree or
disagree? Why? (page 301)
- At the end, Marion felt
that he and Shiva were reunited into ShivaMarion and that Shiva lived in
him (page 640). Do you find this an
interesting way for him to continue with his life?
- Were you surprised that
Marion went back to Ethiopia?
- Discuss the ending. Was it ethical that the doctors let
Shiva donate part of his liver to Marion when it was still
experimental? Were you surprised
his death was not related to the transplant?
- If you read this book for
the second time, was the second reading different than the first because
you had a general idea of the storyline?
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